US Senate passes new Iran-Russia sanctions

Senate voters for new Iran sanctions over nuclear program

Author Daryl Cohen

20 June, 2017

Citing a senior administration official, Politico reports that though US President Donald Trump's administration supports sanctioning Russian Federation, they are anxious that the new bill will tie their hands as they are trying to rebuild relations with Moscow.

The bill, which passed by a vote of 98-2, would ensure that President Donald Trump could not unilaterally lift sanctions against Russian Federation; any attempt to do so would have to be approved by Congress.

The new sanctions aim to impose new restrictions on Iran's ballistic missile program and to punish Tehran for "supporting terrorism and human rights violations". It also creates a congressional review process if the executive branch eases current sanctions.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Wednesday called on lawmakers to grant "flexibility" to the White House in dealing with Russian Federation as U.S. Senate overwhelmingly passed new Russian Federation sanction bill.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had agreed "with the sentiment" of holding Russian Federation accountable but had urged Congress not to pass any legislation that could harm a "constructive dialogue" with Moscow.

In other words, the Trump administration may (again) be betting that loyalty to the president - or more likely, fear of his political base - will be more important to House Republicans than the omnipresent suspicions over, and investigation into, possible ties between the Trump campaign and Russian Federation, as well as the president's seeming attempts to dismiss that investigation.

Helmut Kohl dies, former German ChancellorChancellor Kohl was a friend to the United States during a transformative period for Germany and Europe as a whole. Bush have praised Kohl, calling him "the greatest European leader of the second half of the 20th century".

Trump rolls back Obama's policy on CubaAcross the way, protesters held up signs deriding Trump's decision to rollback the Obama administration's Cuba initiative. The president has been critical of actions that meant to warm decades of icy relations with the communist island nation.

The bill also includes new sanctions on Iran over its ballistic missile program and other activities not related to the worldwide nuclear agreement reached with the United States and other world powers. In a 100-member Senate, 97 voted in favor of new sanctions, while only two members; Mike Lee and Rand Paul voted against it. This bipartisan amendment is the sanctions regime that the Kremlin deserves for its actions, ' said Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen, another leader of the push for the legislation.

The Republican-led Senate unanimously approved a measure emphasizing the importance of NATO's mutual defense pact, a not-so-subtle dig at President Donald Trump.

The bill penalizes Moscow for interfering in the 2016 election by imposing sanctions on key sectors of Russia's economy, including mining, metals, shipping and railways.

The amendment reportedly has not thrilled the White House, which wants to retain its unilateral authority to impose and lift sanctions. The White House hasn't weighed in on the legislation but says it's "committed" to the existing Russian sanctions. The Trump administration has pushed back against the bill, and his fellow Republicans hold a commanding 238- to 193-seat majority in the chamber.

"We see destabilizing act after destabilizing act [by Iran], from missile launches to arms transfers to terrorist training to illicit financial activities to targeting Navy ships and detaining American citizens", said the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Republican Bob Corker of Tennessee.

His comments come after a top Iranian general claimed the Islamic Republic had evidence the USA was directly supporting the group. Former US secretary of state John Kerry as well as foreign ministers from different countries attended the two-day Oslo Forum.

However, he added that "there's no point in feeling joyful for that, because surely we will find more victims as we progres". It has been reported that some people lost their lives while being trapped in cars as the fire swept over the road.

Some civil rights groups criticized the timing of Kelly's announcement, which coincided with the anniversary of Plyler v. It was revoked five years to the day after President Barack Obama announced the protection efforts for young immigrants.

A newly introduced Senate bill to lift remaining travel restrictions has attracted 54 co-sponsors, including 10 Republicans. In the last week, seven Republican senators from the Midwest have urged a go-slow approach to reversing the Obama changes.

Bahram Qasemi, the Foreign Ministry spokesman said the Syrian government was notified of the attack before it was carried out. Iran's Revolutionary Guard launched the missiles against the site in Deir al-Zour, according to the Tasnim news agency.

In the other semi-final, SoftBank Team Japan lead Sweden's Artemis Racing 3-1 ahead of their two races on Thursday. In the third race, SoftBank Team Japan didn't give Artemis enough room at the fifth gate mark and was penalized.

He remained hopeful the Lions would be able to turn around their tour which so far sits at two wins and two losses. But Jamie Heaslip's back injury flared up in the warm-up and suddenly O'Mahony was pitched into the starting team.

Bailey was spotted Friday in the Capitol, on crutches and out of uniform, accepting congratulations from fellow officers. James told her that he was going to Washington , D.C.to "work on taxes" and "change the tax brackets", she said.

So I appreciate anyone who is willing to step up to plate, defend us, defend our freedom, protect public safety. Joe Barton, R-Texas, grew emotional as he described what he saw to reporters when he returned to the House.

Definitely like the golf courses up here, they're tremendous golf courses, but I'm just trying to do the best job I can. The USGA has been criticized for its decisions at several recent championships, so the success of this year's U.S.

Popular

Machinima mocks Take Two's mod assault in short film
They also claim they are working on this issue so that they can " support the creative community " without hurting other players. A Change.org petition calling for Take-Two to reverse course on OpenIV has attracted more than 50,000 signatures so far.

The Crew 2 Announced; Cars, Airplanes And Boats!
Ubisoft's The Crew 2 , is, uh, a little different than what we expected, but we definitely like what we see. The game is still early in development so we will be getting more details as the year progresses.

Sessions to appear before Senate intelligence committee
On March 1, The Washington Post reported that he met twice with the Russian ambassador, Sergey Kislyak , during the campaign. Briefing congressional appropriators on the Justice Department's budget is a critical part of the attorney general's job.